Canandaigua football routs HF-L in opener

Saturday

Sep 7, 2013 at 12:49 AMSep 7, 2013 at 12:49 AM

Braves RB Jaymin Ransom ran for 193 yards and three touchdowns

Dan Goldman

Jaymin Ransom made sure the Canandaigua football team started the 2013 season with a win. The senior carried the ball 25 times for 193 yards and three touchdowns, while the Braves' defense added two touchdowns of their own in a 48-7 win over Honeoye Falls-Lima on Friday.

The running back took on an increased workload after starting quarterback Anthony Pagliano left the game with an injury in the first quarter. Canandaigua head coach Jeff Welch praised his team for overcoming the adversity.

"We know Jaymin can run the ball, it's no surprise," Welch said. "We were kind of hoping not to put it all on him because the wildcat offense has different options, but we had to get out of that and he had a great game. He carried us, but we knew he could, that's the type of player he is."

Braves tight end Brian Feldman caught a touchdown pass, returned a fumble for a touchdown and recorded six touchbacks on kickoffs.

Cougars quarterback Dan Hart went 10-of-22 for 134 yards and a touchdown.

Canandaigua opened the scoring with 3:53 left in the first quarter on a drive where Ransom accounted for all 65 of the Braves' yards. The senior reached the end zone on a 1-yard run up the middle and Eli Bombard kicked the extra point.

A short HF-L punt gave Canandaigua excellent field position late in the first half. Ransom finished the drive with another 1-yard run with 1:58 left. The extra point missed.

The Braves regained possession with less than a minute remaining in the half and quarterback Mitchell Fisher hit Eric Munn for a 31-yard gain down the left sideline. On the next play, Fisher found Feldman for a short gain to the right and the tight end bulldozed his way into the end zone with 2.8 seconds left. Ransom ran the ball in for the two-point conversion to put Canandaigua up 21-0.

"A couple of those kids came in thinking they were going to run me over and I didn't let that happen," Feldman said. "I kept my feet moving and pushing into the end zone."

Welch said he was proud of how Fisher stepped in at quarterback and remained calm and collected.

The Cougars found success with their passing game in the third quarter. Hart completed throws of 14, 21 and 23 yards before Galen Faurot-Pigeon made a diving catch for a 7-yard score. Ryan Buisman kicked the extra point.

It didn't take long for the Braves to respond. On Canandaigua's next offensive play, Ransom ripped off a 67-yard touchdown run. The extra point missed.

"We put stuff together in the second half," Ransom said. "The blocking was good. I had to cut it outside a little bit, but I'm very confident about the blocking."

Three plays later, Eric Munn intercepted a deep pass by HF-L and ran it back 60 yards for a touchdown. Bombard tacked on the point after. On the Cougars' next offensive play, Bombard caused a fumble and Feldman scooped the ball up and ran 21 yards for a touchdown. The extra point was good.

Honeoye Falls fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Canandaigua's Ryan Heeb came up with the ball. Ethan Marchitelli recovered a fumble on the Cougars' next possession to set up Nick Johnson's 8-yard touchdown run with 4:59 left in the game.